Attleboro crisis pregnancy center stole data tricked patients lawsuit alleges
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By Beth Treffeisen ppA womens gynecological clinic in Attleboro is suing a neighboring crisis pregnancy center accusing it of hacking its confidential online portal and misleading patients to prevent abortionppFour Women Health Services alleges that Attleboro Womens Health Center also named Abundant Hope Pregnancy Resource Center broke computer fraud consumer protection and wiretapping laws in a civil lawsuit filed on Sept 5 in US District Court in BostonppFour Women is a licensed clinic founded in 1998 to ensure women can access reproductive health care often serving lowincome communities It is one of only three reproductive health care clinics that provides abortion care in the southeastern portion of the state and the only one offering surgical abortion services It is a forprofit company that accepts health insurance and direct payments from patientsppOn the other hand Attleboro Womens Health Center is a nonprofit that serves patients at no cost The center provides diagnosing of pregnancies and ultrasounds despite not being licensed by the state the claim saysppBostoncom could not reach Darlene Howard the executive director of Attleboro Womens Health Center However she told The Boston Globe that the center had no comment on the allegations The Atteleboro Police Department did not receive any reporting incidents or police reports on this alleged conductppReproductive Equity Now lists Attleboro Womens Health Center as an antiabortion center or crisis pregnancy center which it defines as a facility that presents itself as a resource for people facing unplanned pregnancies but exists to dissuade people from accessing abortion careppThe lawsuit follows Gov Maura Healeys public awareness campaign on crisis pregnancy centers this past summer Your Options Medical another listed crisis pregnancy center followed by suing state officials saying the campaign infringed on its constitutional rightsppWith a little over 30 crisis pregnancy centers in the state the Healey administration says the centers outnumber comprehensive reproductive health clinics by more than two to one in the state ppProblems began between Four Women and Attleboro Womens Health Center in 2018 when the center attempted to open an office in the same building as Four Women but failed Instead the center moved into the building next door which shares a parking lot and driveway with the clinic ppIn addition to being confusing in location individuals on behalf of the center allegedly often try to interfere with Four Women patients in the parking lot and attempt to give them literature and other information before entering ppOther alleged confusion tactics include people working for the center wearing the same vests as Four Women volunteers who help direct patients to the right place ppWhen women accidentally enter the center staff allegedly do not inform them that they are in the wrong place and often prevent them from leaving by conducting lengthy intake proceduresppThe suit alleges that the center performed hundreds of medical appointments and medical tests worth 157000 last year ppFour Women can only imagine how many women have been deterred or blocked from receiving any care from Four Women as a result of Attleboro Womens Health Clinics deception or how many women AWHC has placed at risk through its illegal and dangerous medical advice the suit says ppIn addition Four Women alleges the crisis pregnancy center breached its electronic platforms to access confidential patientclient communications and then used the information to intercept patients ppRapid7 a software company evaluated the suspected cybersecurity incident on behalf of Four Women In an affidavit the company concluded that the security risk was within the thirdparty webbased platforms including Klara Technologies which offers a secure messaging platform to schedule appointments and Athenahealth Inc a health record system where the information is uploaded ppMatthew Patton an attorney for Four Women says how the center breached their data is still unclear ppHowever as the complaint lays out there are clear examples of why they think this is the case ppOne example was on Oct 30 2023 when a woman messaged Four Women through the Klara widget on its website to schedule an ultrasound Klara staff communicated that they had appointments on Wednesday Thursday or Friday that week through electronic messaging ppAbout 15 minutes later the woman said she received a call from someone at the office and had scheduled an appointment for Thursday morning However Four Women did not contact the patient She later learned that the text confirming the appointment was from the Attleboro Womens Health Clinic not Four WomenppThe woman never contacted the center before ppAnother example includes a woman who contacted Four Women on May 1 through the app to schedule an abortion A little over an hour later she received a call from a phone number that appeared to be from Attleboro Womens Health Centers phone number A person claimed that she would have to have an ultrasound at the center before she could receive an abortionppThe lawsuit asks for an injunction to stop Attleboro Womens Health Center from accessing Four Womens data misleading patients and potential patients providing ultrasounds and promoting itself as a fullservice clinic when it is not licensedppFour Women is seeking court fees and damages up to 20000 for violating state and federal laws as well as triple damages and interest for unfair trade practicesppBeth Treffeisen is a general assignment reporter for Bostoncom focusing on local news crime and business in the New England regionppSign up to receive the latest headlines in your inbox each morningpppp2024 Boston Globe Media Partners LLCpp
Stay up to date with everything Boston Receive the latest news and breaking updates straight from our newsroom to your inbox ppp
By Beth Treffeisen ppA womens gynecological clinic in Attleboro is suing a neighboring crisis pregnancy center accusing it of hacking its confidential online portal and misleading patients to prevent abortionppFour Women Health Services alleges that Attleboro Womens Health Center also named Abundant Hope Pregnancy Resource Center broke computer fraud consumer protection and wiretapping laws in a civil lawsuit filed on Sept 5 in US District Court in BostonppFour Women is a licensed clinic founded in 1998 to ensure women can access reproductive health care often serving lowincome communities It is one of only three reproductive health care clinics that provides abortion care in the southeastern portion of the state and the only one offering surgical abortion services It is a forprofit company that accepts health insurance and direct payments from patientsppOn the other hand Attleboro Womens Health Center is a nonprofit that serves patients at no cost The center provides diagnosing of pregnancies and ultrasounds despite not being licensed by the state the claim saysppBostoncom could not reach Darlene Howard the executive director of Attleboro Womens Health Center However she told The Boston Globe that the center had no comment on the allegations The Atteleboro Police Department did not receive any reporting incidents or police reports on this alleged conductppReproductive Equity Now lists Attleboro Womens Health Center as an antiabortion center or crisis pregnancy center which it defines as a facility that presents itself as a resource for people facing unplanned pregnancies but exists to dissuade people from accessing abortion careppThe lawsuit follows Gov Maura Healeys public awareness campaign on crisis pregnancy centers this past summer Your Options Medical another listed crisis pregnancy center followed by suing state officials saying the campaign infringed on its constitutional rightsppWith a little over 30 crisis pregnancy centers in the state the Healey administration says the centers outnumber comprehensive reproductive health clinics by more than two to one in the state ppProblems began between Four Women and Attleboro Womens Health Center in 2018 when the center attempted to open an office in the same building as Four Women but failed Instead the center moved into the building next door which shares a parking lot and driveway with the clinic ppIn addition to being confusing in location individuals on behalf of the center allegedly often try to interfere with Four Women patients in the parking lot and attempt to give them literature and other information before entering ppOther alleged confusion tactics include people working for the center wearing the same vests as Four Women volunteers who help direct patients to the right place ppWhen women accidentally enter the center staff allegedly do not inform them that they are in the wrong place and often prevent them from leaving by conducting lengthy intake proceduresppThe suit alleges that the center performed hundreds of medical appointments and medical tests worth 157000 last year ppFour Women can only imagine how many women have been deterred or blocked from receiving any care from Four Women as a result of Attleboro Womens Health Clinics deception or how many women AWHC has placed at risk through its illegal and dangerous medical advice the suit says ppIn addition Four Women alleges the crisis pregnancy center breached its electronic platforms to access confidential patientclient communications and then used the information to intercept patients ppRapid7 a software company evaluated the suspected cybersecurity incident on behalf of Four Women In an affidavit the company concluded that the security risk was within the thirdparty webbased platforms including Klara Technologies which offers a secure messaging platform to schedule appointments and Athenahealth Inc a health record system where the information is uploaded ppMatthew Patton an attorney for Four Women says how the center breached their data is still unclear ppHowever as the complaint lays out there are clear examples of why they think this is the case ppOne example was on Oct 30 2023 when a woman messaged Four Women through the Klara widget on its website to schedule an ultrasound Klara staff communicated that they had appointments on Wednesday Thursday or Friday that week through electronic messaging ppAbout 15 minutes later the woman said she received a call from someone at the office and had scheduled an appointment for Thursday morning However Four Women did not contact the patient She later learned that the text confirming the appointment was from the Attleboro Womens Health Clinic not Four WomenppThe woman never contacted the center before ppAnother example includes a woman who contacted Four Women on May 1 through the app to schedule an abortion A little over an hour later she received a call from a phone number that appeared to be from Attleboro Womens Health Centers phone number A person claimed that she would have to have an ultrasound at the center before she could receive an abortionppThe lawsuit asks for an injunction to stop Attleboro Womens Health Center from accessing Four Womens data misleading patients and potential patients providing ultrasounds and promoting itself as a fullservice clinic when it is not licensedppFour Women is seeking court fees and damages up to 20000 for violating state and federal laws as well as triple damages and interest for unfair trade practicesppBeth Treffeisen is a general assignment reporter for Bostoncom focusing on local news crime and business in the New England regionppSign up to receive the latest headlines in your inbox each morningpppp2024 Boston Globe Media Partners LLCpp
Stay up to date with everything Boston Receive the latest news and breaking updates straight from our newsroom to your inbox ppp
